AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes says the government gave the airline the opportunity to become one of the biggest international brands in the world. (Reuters pic)

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes has credited the government for the budget airline’s success in a video clip advising Malaysians to vote wisely in the coming polls.

“We started as a little two-plane airline where the whole world was against us.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a government that helped and provided us the opportunity to build ourselves into one of the biggest international brands in the world. And that’s not easy for a Malaysian company,” he said in the video uploaded to YouTube yesterday.

Fernandes said AirAsia had since won many awards, adding that he credited the government for this.

“I always used to say, to the government and to the prime minister, put people first, then the decision becomes easy.

“AirAsia has gone from two planes to 230 planes, from 200,000 passengers to 89 million passengers this year. And I believe the prime minister put people first, and allowed AirAsia to grow despite opposition from all over the place.”

Fernandes said he was an “easy person to make an enemy of” but that the government had put the country first, as well as what would benefit Malaysians the most.

“That has enabled us to create the international brand that we created today.

“So don’t listen to all the press, there’s a lot of fake news. Don’t go to the polls based on information that may not be accurate, on hearsay.